Refrigeration



May i6, E94@ A. D. SIEDLE 348,850

REFRIGERATION Filed June 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheei'l ATTORNEY- A. D. SIEDLE REFRIGERATION Filed June 25, 194].

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR Anz old. S edle BY 5f M ATTORNEY iacent PatentedMay 16,`

, REFBIGERATION mola n. sleale, cleveland Heights, ohio, assunor to Ohio The Hoover Company, North Qanton.

Anuman June z5, 1941, serai No. 399.631

1e claim. (ci. szs) This invention relates vto refrigeration and more particularly to the positioning of the manual control knob for a gas-fired refrigerator ina position adjacent to the gas burner and alsoI in a position where it will be readily accessible for manual operation.

In present day household refrigerators, it is usual practice to provide a manual control knob so that the evaporator temperature canbe regulated for fast freezing or defrosting or other- Wise adjusted as desired.

It is also usual practice to mount the control knob on the evaporator casing on the interior of the food storage compartment. In such a case,

the control mechanism Vis usually mounted adthe knob so that-the control knob may be dir tly connectedto the control adjusting mechanism.

In compression refrigerating apparatuspthis presents no serious diiliculties since it is only necessary to lead electrical conductors from the control switch positioned on the evaporator casing to the compressor motor.

However, in gas operated refrigerators a serl- `ous dimcultyvpresents itself since the gas valve must be operated vby the control and the gas burner must be positioned in the apparatus compartment beneath the food storage compartment adjacent to the generator. Y, l

In the past, movement has been transmitted from' the control knob to the control for the gas valve by complicated motion transmitting mechanisms, such as pulleys and ropes, etc.,as exempliiled by the United States patent to Smith 2,207,701 of July 16,` 1940, or by positioning the gas' valve and controldirectly back of the control knob mountedA on the evaporator casing and directly connecting the knob to the control adjusting mechanism as is exemplified by the United States patent to Kitto et al. 2,203,497 of June 4, 1940. v

In the former case, vit is necessary to provide an expensive and complicated movement transmitting mechanism from the control knob to the gas valve control which mechanism is likely to get out of order during use. y y l In the latter case, it is necessary to provide a gas pipe from adjacent to the floor up to the gas valve-and from the gas valve down again to the gas burner in the apparatuscompartment.

If a pilot light is-provided, as inusual, it isalso 1 nto provide a pilot tube from the gas valve down to the gas burner in the apparatus' obviate the` above disadvantages and to position' the control for the gas valve of a gas-med refrigerator in the apparatus compartment beneath the food-storage compartment adjacent to 'the gas burner'with the manual lcontrol knob directly connected to the control and accessible vfrom the exterior of the apparatus compartment.

In domestic refrigerating apparatus, it is usual practice to provide a control knob with indicia to indicate the position in which the control is set.

It is another object of thisinvention to provide a control knob for a domestic refrigerator in which the indicia carrying" member is located on the interior of the apparatus compartment door with the indicia thereon visible through an opening in the apparatus compartment door.

When the control knob of a domestic refrigerator is readily accessible near the floor in the reach of children, it is nfecessary to provide some means. to prevent casual operation thereof. Otherwise, children might tamper with the con- `trol and set it at some undesirablecontrol s etting.

It is therefore another object of this invention to position the control knob of the domestic refrigerator so as to. be readily accessible from the exterior of the apparatus compartment beneath the food storage compartment and to provide means for preventingcasual operation thereof. Sometimes domestic refrigerator cabinets are placed in dark corners. l When the control knob is positioned to be accessible from the exterior ofthe apparatus compartment beneath the food storage compartment, the indicia thereon would not be readily visible in such a case.

Itis'another object of this invention, therefore, to provide illuminating means for the indicia-carrying member of the control knob of a .domestic refrigerator.

When means is provided for illuminating the indicia-carrying member of the control knob of yknob of a domestic refrigerator for energizing the illuminating means for the indicia-carrying member of the control knob.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds lwhen taken in connection with the acoo drawings in which:

Figure ldepicts adomestic refrigerator cabinet with an absorption refrigerating apparatus positioned therein. Certain parts of the rei'rig-` erating apparatus are positioned in an appara-v trol mechanism according to this invention; and

Figures 3, 4 and 5 disclose -details of the control mechanism according to this invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the domestic refrigerator cabinet comprises a food storage compartment I Il and an apparatus compartment. 'I'he apparatus compartment comprises a chamber I2 located beneath the food storage compartment I and a iiue I4 for inducing a ow of air over the heat rejecting parts of the apparatus. 'Ihe compartment I2 may be open at the bottom to provide .for the entrance of cooling air and is provided with a door IB for closing the front of the compartment.

The gas-fired refrigerator which is assembled with the cabinet of Figure l isa three-fluid absorption refrigerating system comprising a generator, including a boiler B, an analyzer D, an air-cooled rectifier R, a tubular air-cooled condenser C, and evaporator E, a gas heat exchanger G, a tubular air-cooled absorber A, a solution reservoir S, a liquid heat exchanger L, and a circulating fan F which is driven by an electric motor M. The above 'described elements are interconnected by various conduits to form a plurality of gas and liquid circuits constituting-a complete refrigerating system.

The construction and operation of this system is shown and described in detail in the United States patent to Coons et al. 2,239,143 of April 22, 1941. The 'particular system disclosed forms no part of the present invention and will not be described in detail herein.

The location of the various parts of'the refrigerating apparatus in the apparatus compartment is substantially the same as that shown and described in my application Serial No. 248,699 tiled December 31, 1938, and which matured on Feb. 9, 1943, into Patent No. 2,310,875, with the exception that in this application the motor fan unit is mounted in the compartment I2 beneath the food storage compartment rather than in the air ilue at the rear of the cabinet.

'I'he boiler B is provided with a central combustion ilue'Il having an extension 20, which in actual construction, is extended to the top of the air nue I4 for the disposition of the products of combustion.

The boilerBisheated by burnerHof well known construction. The now of gas to the burner H and electricity to themotor M is controlled by a control mechanism 22 which may be of any desired construction but is preferably of the type disclosed and claimed in the United States Patent to `Kitto et al., No. 2,203,497 of June "i, 1940.

As in the Kitto et al. patent, the gas valve 24 is mounted on the casing of the control 22 so asto be directly actuated thereby.

The valve 24 is supplied with gas from the gas main by conduit 26 and conduit 2l connects the outlet of the valve 24 to the burner H. A conduit Il leads from the casing of the vvalve 24 to provide a pilot name for the burner H as -is well known in the art. For cycling operation, the control 22 is connected to a bulb 22 positioned against the coils of the evaporator E, by'a convduit 24 of small diameter. The bulb 22 and conduit 34 are nlled with an expansible iluid as is well known in the art. The expansion and contraction of the fluid in the bulb 32, by changes in temperature of the evaporator E, operates to cyclically energize the motor M and supply gas to the burner H as is fully described in the patent to Kitto et al. above referred to.

'I'he control 22 is mounted on a U-shaped bracket 36 having its closed end secured to the insulated wall 38 which separates the food storage compartment I0 from the compartment I2,

adjacent the front of the compartment I2 immediately behind thel apparatus compartment door I6.

Extending forwardly from vthe control 22 through the legs of the bracket 32 is a shaft 4l which is directly connected lto the adjusting mechanism for the controly 22. Mounted for sliding movement on the forward end of the shaft 40 is a control knob 42 which extends through an opening 44 in the door I4 of the apparatus compartment.

The knob 44 carries a dish-shaped disc 46 positioned on the inside of the apparatus compartment door I6. On its outer face the disc carries suitable indicia, as seen in Figure 1, to indicate thev various settings for the control. A single indicia is visible through the opening 48 in the apparatus compartment door I4 for any particular setting of the control knob.

The shaft 40 is constrained to rotate with the knob 42 by means of a screw 50 extending through the sleeve 62 which is rigidly attached to the knob 42. The end of the screw 59 extends into an elongated groove 54`in the shaft 4' so that the knob 42 can be reciprocated on the shaft 40 but the shaft 40 will rotate with the knob 42 as it is rotated in either direction..

Rigidly secured to the inner end of the sleeve 52 is an outwardly facing cup-shaped member 58, the rim of which is provided with a plurality of notches 58 corresponding in number to the number of control positions of the control knob 42. The knob 42, sleeve 52 and the cup-shaped member 56 are biased outwardly by a coiled spring 4l which surrounds the shaft 4I! and abuis against the front leg of the bracket I4. Struck outwardly ,from an L-shaped bracket 42,- secured to the front leg of bracket Il is a lug I4 which is adapted to enter any one of the notches I8 and prevent rotation of the knob 42 of the control knob 42 in either direction.

In order to illuminate the indica on the trait of the dish-shaped disc 4l, a light bulb l2 is mounted in a socket in an upwardly and i'orwardly extended lextension of bracket I2. In order to control the now of current to the bulb 04. s push-button switch 'Il is mounted on a downward extension of the front leg of bracket 3l. The rim of the dish-shaped disc 4l contacts with the operating button of the switch 1l so that when the control knob is pushed in wardly to operate the control, the bulb is enersind. The bulb l2 is mounted behind the apparatus 'compartment door I4 which door. is provided with an opening 12 so positioned that the lisht rays from thebulb ll will fall on the bulb is energiaed.

` invention .provides for the positioning of: the

control for the burner of a gas operated refrigerator in which the control is positioned adjacent the burner and yet is readily accessible for operation whereby it is unnecessary to provide a complicated operating mechanism for the gas valve or to position the gas valve in a position remote from the burner. This renders it unnecessary to provide a complicated movement transmitting mechanism or added gas pipes.

It also can be seen that this invention provides a control pomtioned on the interior of the apparatus compartment below the food storage compartment of a domestic refrigerator with a manual control knob readily accessible from thel exterior of the apparatus compartment. with means to prevent casual operation of the control knob and means actuated by the control knob for illuminating the indicia on the control knob so that it is a simple and convenient matter to' adjust the control and at the same time prevent casual operation thereof by children.

While I have shown but a single embodiment .of my invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited tothe particular structure shown and described, but to include all equivalent variainent anda lowerapparatus compartment, a

tions thereof except as limited by the claims.

1. In a gas operated refrigerator o i' the type having a cabinet with anupper food storage compartment and a lower apparatus compartment with a front closure therefor. a gas-fired refrigerator associated therewith having the gas burner therefor positioned in the Aapparatus compartment, an adjustable control for the gas.

supplied to the burner and an axially movable `manually operated member for adjusting the control, that improvement which consists in p0- sitioning the adjustable control for thegas supply'in the apparatus compartment adjacent to the-gas burner with the manually operated member directly connected thereto and vpositioned to beI readily accessible from the exterior of the closure member for the apparatus compartment and releassble means associated with the-manually operated member. and -releasable byaxial llovenent thereof to prevent casual operation V2. In a gas operated refrigerator of the type having a cabinet with an upper food storage# compartment and a lower apparatus compartment vwith 'a frgit clomre therefor, a gas-fired refrigerator associated therewith having the gas burner therefor positioned in the apparatus v compartment, an adjustable cogitrol 'for the gas supplied to the burner and a manually operated member for adjusting the control, that improvement which consists in positioning the adjustable control for the gas supply in the apparatus compartment adjacent to the gas burner with the manually operated member directly con-.

nected thereto and positioned to be readily ac cessible from thefexterior of the closure member for the apparatus compartment, `releasable means associated with the manually operated three-fluid absorption refrigerator associated with said cabinet, said refrigerator comprising a generator, an absorber, an evaporator, an inert gas circuit between the absorber and evaporator including said absorber and evaporator and electrically operated means for circulating a'n inert A.

gas in said inert gas circuit, said' generator and electrically, operated means being positioned in said apparatus compartment, a'gas burner adjacent said generator, an adjustable control for controlling the supply of gas to said burner and electricityv to said electrically operated means, positioned in said apparatus compartment adjacent to said burner and said electrically operatedmeans, and a manually operated member for adjusting said. control directly connected 'tc said controland positionedto be readily accessible -from the exterior of said apparatus compartment.

4. A refrigerating apparatus comprising, a cabinet having an upper food storage compartment and a lower apparatus compartment. a

three-fluid absorption refrigerator associated with said cabinet, said refrigerator comprising a generator, an absorber, an evaporator, an inert gas circuit between the absorber and evaporator including said absorber and evaporator and electrically operated means for circulating an inert gas in said inert gas circuit, said .generator and.

electrically operated means being positioned in said apparatus compartment, a gas burner adjacent said generator, an adjustable control for and a lower apparatus compartment, -a three-- fluid absorption refrigerator associated with said cabinet, said refrigerator comprising a generator, an absorber, an evaporator, an inert gaa circuit between the abmrber 4and evaporator including said absorber and evaporatorV and electrically operated means for circulating an inert gas in said inert gas circuit, said generator and elec.

trically operated means being positioned in said apparatus compartment, a'gas burner`- adjacent said generator,. an adjustable control for .controlling the supply. of gas to said burner and electricity to said electrically operated means positioned in said apparatus compartment adjacent said burner and'said electrically operated means, afmanually operated member for adjusting said 'control directly connected thereto and lpositioned to be -readily accessible from .the exterior' of said apparatus compartment, and releasable means operated by said manually operated member for preventing casual operation thereof. 1

6. A refrigerating apparatus comprisingfa cabinet having an upper food storage compartment member to prevent casual operation thereof and and a lower apparatus compartment with a front closure therefor.' controllable means positioned in said apparatus compartment, an adjustable conling said control directly connected thereto and extended through said front closurev so as to be readily accessible from the exterior of said apparatus compartment, releasable means associated with said manually operated member to prevent casual operation thereof and means operated bysaid manually operated member for illuminating the same, said releasable means and il'- luminating means being simultaneously operable by said manually operated member.

7. A refrigerator including a cabinet having an apparatus compartment with a front closure therefor, an adjustable control in said apparatus compartment.' a manually operated member for adjusting said control directly connected thereto and extending throughan opening in said front closure member, said manually operated member having an indicia carrying member behind said front closure and visible through a second opening therein.

to the burner and a manually operated member v for adjusting the control, that improvement which consists in positioning the adjustablev control for the ga's supply in the apparatus compartmenty adjacent to the gas burner with the manually operated member directly connected thereto and positioned to be readily accessible from the exterior of the closure member for the apparatus compartment, means associated with the manually operated member to prevent casual operation thereof and means operable upon release of said releasable means for illuminating said manually operated member.

l2. In a gas operated refrigerator of the typeA having a cabinet with an upper food storage compartment and a lower apparatus'compartment with a front closure therefor, a gas-fired 8. A refrigerator including a cabinet having an apparatus compartment with a front closure therefor, an adjustable control in said apparatus compartment, a manually operated member for adjusting said control directly connected thereto and extending through an opening in said front closure, said manually operated member having an indicia carrying member positioned behind f said front closure and visible through a second opening therein and releasable means operated by said manually operated member for preventing casual operation thereof.

9. A refrigerator including a cabinet having an apparatus compartment with a front closure therefor, an adjustable control in said apparatus compartment, a manually operated member for adjusting said control directly connected thereto adjusting said control directly connected thereto' and extending. through an opening in said front closure, said manually operated member having refrigerator associated therewith having the gas burner therefor positioned in the apparatus compartment, an adjustable control for the gas supplied to the burner and a manually operated member.for adjusting the control, that improvement which consists in positioning the adjustable control for the gas supply in the apparatus compartment adjacent to lthe gas burner with the manually operated member directly connected thereto and positioned to be readily accessible p from the exterior of the closure member for the apparatus compartment, releasable means for preventing casual operation ofsaid manually operated member and illuminating means for said manually operated member, said manually operated member being operable to simultaneously operate s'aid releasable means and to energize said illuminating means.

l3. A refrigerating apparatus comprising, a cabinet having an upper food storage compartment and a lower apparatus compartment, a

three-fluid absorption refrigerator associated with said cabinet, said refrigerator comprising a generator, an absorber, @an evaporator, an inert vgas circuit .between the absorber and evaporator including said absorber and evaporator, and an electrically operated means for circulating an inert gas in said inert gas circuit, said generator and said electrically operated means being posi` tioned in said apparatus compartment, a gas burner adjacent to said generator, an adjustable control for controlling the supply of gasto said n burner and electricity to said electrically operated means,` positioned in said apparatus compartment adjacent said burner and said electrically operated means, a. manually operated means for adjusting said control 'directly connected thereto and positioned to .bereadily accessible from the i exterior of said apparatus compartment. releasable meansfor preventing casual operation of said manually operated member, and illuminating means for said manually `operated member.

an indicia camine member positioned 'behind' g said manually operated member being operable said 'front closure and visible through a second opening therein. releasable means for preventing casual operation of said manually operated member and illuminating means for saidv manually operated member, .said manuallyoperated member being operable to simultaneously release said releasable means and to energize said illuminating means.

ll. In a gas operated refrigerator of the typel having a cabinet with an upper food storage compartment and a lower apparatus compartment with a front closure therefor, a gas-fired refrigerator associated therewithfhavin'g the gas burner therefor positioned in the apparatus compartment, an control-for the gas supply 1| paratus compartment, releasable means associated with said manually). operated member to prevent casual operation thereof and means op.

erated by said manually operated member for tus compartment positioned below the food storage compartment, a generator for said apparatus in said apparatus compartment, a gas burner for heating said generator in said apparatus compartment, an adjustable control for supplying gas to said gas burner positioned in said apparatus compartment adjacent thereto; a front closure for said apparatus compartment, axially movable and rotatable manually controllable means for adjusting said control directly .connected thereto and extending through an opening in said front closure so as to'be readily accessible from the exterior of said apparatus compartment and means for preventing casual operation of said manually controllable means, said lastnamed means vbeing releasable by axial movement of said manually controllable'means.

1t. A three nuid absorption r'erigeraung apparatus comprising a cabinet having an appara- A tus compartment positioned below the food .stor

age compartment, a generator-for said apparatus in said apparatus compartment. a gas burner for heating said generator in said apparatus compartment, an adjustable control for supplying gas to said gas burner positioned in said apparatus compartment adjacent thereto, a front closure lfor said apparatus compartment, manually controllable means for adjusting said control directly connected thereto and extending through an opening in said front closure so as to be rea dily accessible from the exterior of said apparatus compartment, means for preventing casual operation of said manually controllable means,

said last named means being operable by said manually controllable means andmeans operable nating the same.

' ARNOLD D. SIEDLVE.

by said manually controllable means for illumi- 

